A fault-tolerant architecture for launch vehicle guidance and control. I - Requirements/architecture

A low-cost, highly reliable guidance and control system for launch vehicles requires fault tolerance if the launch failures are to be amortized in the launch costs. A flexible architecture that meets requirements for low-cost and high reliability is presented. It provides design workarounds to optimize the system to meet its mission requirements. It is noted that if a viable launch vehicle guidance and control system is to be available it is necessary to deviate from current approaches that have basic deficiencies in their ability to significantly reduce cost and increase reliability. The requirements and architecture presented have been developed with reference to the advanced launch system program.